The Ninja Nanny
by Sarahsorad
Summary: Collab with TehMarishal! Sequel to Sari VS. Sitter. Prowl has decided that since no human will take the job, he'll look after Sari; and he really thinks he knows what he's getting into...
1. Prologue

Oh man unexpected sequel time!

So TehMarishal of this website got in touch with me about working on a collab for a sequel to Sari VS. Sitter, and it's been quite sometime since I've done a collab, and the idea seemed to be perfect for having fun with so I couldn't say no.

Plus even though I had other ideas I'm not really sure how I want to start them off just yet but I'll have a lot of other stuff up soon… I'm already really liking this fandom.

TehMarishal is also posting the story on their deviantart page and I'm linking to it on my profile since I can't really put links into stories without making them quite a hassle.

Disclaimer: We don't own Transformers… need I say anymore?

* * *

**The Ninja Nanny**

**Prologue**

Prowl activated his holographic "driver" as he pulled away from the base, moving out onto the road. He left his lights and sirens inactive, since this was no emergency. Bumblebee might be the type to abuse them, but Prowl was not.

Professor Sumdac had called about twenty cycles ago, stating that he was leaving Detroit for an important business meeting in exactly two days, and he asked the ninja bot to look after Sari. Basically because Sumdac felt that Prowl would take good care of her, and wouldn't let her get away with anything. On top of that, ever since what happened during Cara's time babysitting Sari, no one in their right mind would even think of looking after the child now.

Plus Isaac did not want to return seeing his home a complete mess again, either.

Prowl had agreed, if for no other reason than to preserve the sanity of any other potential babysitter that might come along, by taking the job so that no other would be unfortunate enough to get stuck with it. Plus he wanted to make certain that no more damage came to Sumdac Tower, and that Sari would not fool Bumblebee and Bulkhead into anything.

At times, Prowl couldn't help but wonder who was really more naïve and childlike; Sari, or Bulkhead and Bumblebee.

Prowl shoved those thoughts aside as he neared Cara's residence. He had a few things he wanted to ask her about watching young organics, and he figured she was a good source of knowledge to go to.

"No!" was the first thing that fell out of the teenager's mouth, she continued. "My mom is going to be home in about fifteen minutes, she is not going to be happy when she sees a giant-talking-transforming-alien-robot in her front yard!"

"Remember that favor?" Prowl asked calmly

Cara sighed, "I don't have a lot left from the job, but I have a couple hundred in the bank. How much do you want?"

"No, I'm not here for money. I'm actually here because I recently choose to take on a certain job, one that you have had prior experience with."

Cara seemed to freeze up and was silent for a few seconds before slamming her front door closed. Prowl was worried this might happen, he used the number that the professor had given him.

"Hello?"

"Cara come back outside."

"No way! I refuse to go back there, nothing can make me go back not even giant-talking-evil-alien-robots!"

"No one's asking you to go back; I just wanted to ask you some things about taking care of the child because I have decided to take up the job myself."

Cara hung up her phone and stepped back outside.

"I have repressed those memories; so sorry but I can only vaguely recall the horrifying week!"

"Can you remember that you owe me for the week not being anymore of a disaster?"

Cara sent a glare at the ninja-bot "Maybe."

"Well…"

"Well?"

"I'm waiting."

Cara sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine," she finally said. "What… exactly… do you need?" It sounded as though she had to force the words out through gritted teeth. In truth, she would have actually preferred it if the Autobot had wanted money. This was worse than torture.

However, things actually started out fairly easy. In fact, over the next few minutes or so, Cara was completely baffled and shocked at just how much the Autobot apparently didn't know. Oh he apparently knew the basics, about how humans needed to eat and do some things each day, but now he was asking her for all the specifics.

Then again, what could she expect from a giant, alien robot? He probably didn't even have to eat or sleep, at least not in the way she knew how. But she did find it a bit disconcerting to be asked about things that even a four-year-old would know about.

Even right down to toilet paper. How could anyone not know about toilet paper?

Cara even made sure to remind the ninja of the girls' nature; she was sure he should already know her well enough to know all about her but Cara felt it was her responsibility to remind him.  
"And she'll play mind games with you, and she'll probably even bite… considering you're a robot she probably won't hold back any either. I know you've dealt with all kinds of crazy stuff I mean I do watch the news occasionally but—"

Prowl had to stop the girls' babbling, it was clear that she may still need therapy for the incident.  
"That should be all; I'll call you if I have anymore questions."

"Okay fine, but don't bring that—thing—that child anywhere near my house, and just don't even let her know we're communicating. In fact if she mentions me, tell her I died or moved to Canada; better yet tell her I moved to Mexico."

"Uh… will do." Prowl turned away and while leaving heard the teenager yelling many things about demons and precautions and 911, many things she'd already told him.

* * *

So we figured this would work for a prologue. I already feel bad for Prowl.


	2. Chapter 1

Can't really think of any notes... so I'll leave it at this.

* * *

**The Ninja Nanny**

**Chapter 1**

"Another business meeting? But dad!" Issac already knew what the girl was going to say in protest but he thought she might like the new idea.

"I arranged for you to stay with the Autobots."

"Awesome!" Sari jumped up excitedly from the sofa. "How long will you be gone?"

"Only for two week you'll get along fi-" He paused realized he didn't have to coax her into the idea, in fact she seemed all for it.

"Yay, I love you daddy!" Sari skipped out of the room "I'm going to go pack!"

This was going to be great, like a big two-week sleepover. Sari didn't yet know that her father had left Prowl a list, and lists were never a good thing.

In less than five minutes, Sari came rushing out of her room with her backpack in hand, but Isaac stepped into her path, blocking her from going any further. "Now, now, Sari," he told her with a stern look, "I am going to have to look in that backpack of yours before I can let you go."

"But Dad, I just packed everything I need!" Sari exclaimed, holding the pack protectively. All that did was assure her father that she was trying to hide something. He furrowed his brow and held out a hand to her, tapping his foot. Sari immediately knew that she would go no further until he looked in her bag, so with great reluctance she slowly held it out to him.  
"Sari, what is all of this?" Sumdac exclaimed as he began to paw through it. "Where in the world did you get this many candy bars and bags of potato chips? And you cannot take all of your comic books and games—you need room to pack your clothes and toothbrush."

He grabbed the junk food out of the pack and then handed it back to her. "Go back to your room and pack it with the proper things. That means at least three or four clean outfits—complete with underwear and socks—and I want you to pack your toothbrush, toothpaste, and your hairbrush. And I will make sure that it is all in there before you leave, Sari!"

Pouting slightly, Sari grabbed the pack and sulked off to her room. Grownups! They just didn't understand anything. What was wrong with the outfit she had on, anyway? It was her favorite and she always wore it. And adults didn't understand that she needed to take all of her games and comics with her to have a good time. She didn't need to bring clothes!

Her father checked to make sure she'd done as he said, she was adamant to bring along Sparkplug and her father didn't bother pushing her to bring Tutor-bot, it would only be broken horribly.

"Sari, do not ruin the Autobot base like you did to Sumdac tower the last time I left you alone."

"That was the babysitter's fault daddy." She had that 'faking innocence' look in her eyes.

"I'm sure it was Sari." he decided he may as well go along with whatever she said on the Cara matter, arguing would do no good with her.

"I trust that you'll respect Prowl and do as he says, I put him in charge you know."

"Yeah no problem." Sari was laughing on the inside, Prowl usually never bossed her around unless she was doing something very wrong, she'd be able to bend some rules easily around him; besides it's not like he really knew too much about humans anyway, she could say it was all necessary.

It would be no problem at all.

A few minutes later, Bumblebee arrived to take Sari to the Autobot base. He parked just outside, and Isaac walked her to the car. Mostly he just wanted to see her off safely, but he also figured that if he kept his eyes on her until the very last minute, that would lessen the chance of her sneaking any more junk food into her backpack.

"I have given Prowl a list of rules," Sumdac said as Sari climbed into Bumblebee's passenger seat. "So you do everything he says, understood?"

"Yeah sure, whatever," Sari said with a shrug. She tossed her backpack into the back seat as her dad closed the door for her. Then, with that, Bumblebee drove away from the tower, heading quickly down the street. Sari glanced out the window to see her dad waving, and she waved back.

"This is going to be so great!" she exclaimed with a squeal, rubbing her hands together gleefully. "Two weeks with you guys? It'll be like one non-stop party!"

They got to the base, amazingly without incident; much to Prowl's surprise. The place was already much louder only minutes after her arrival, Prowl wasn't surprised about this much.

Sari and Bumblebee had already started playing a video game and exchanging words about whose skid-plate was going to be kicked.

Humans didn't even have skid-plates; no matter only an hour in and things were going surprisingly well, of course that could only last if Bumblebee could keep her busy.

Or if the mech didn't get bored himself.

Naturally, he would.

"We're bored!" the two announced.

"Go find Bulkhead." Prowl suggested

"Bumblebee rolled his optics." he's busy with some painting.

"Go outside and get some fresh air?"

"Nah, nothing to do outside. What about Ratchet?" Sari had asked the question more to Bumblebee

"That would be unwise, he's been busy all day working on something and probably frustrated."

"Optimus!" the two announced before running off.

Prowl didn't say anything, after all no damage done yet.

Optimus, however, was busy doing inventory in the back storage room, to make certain they had enough supplies. "Sorry but I have to get this done," he told Sari and Bumblebee, when they asked him if he wanted to do something.

"How long will that take?" Sari asked.

"I'm not sure, probably another mega-cycle at least."

"Come on, let's go," Sari sighed, and then she and Bumblebee left the room. Frankly, anything had to be more exciting than standing around watching Optimus do inventory.

"Hey I know, let's play hide and seek!" Sari exclaimed.

"Oh, okay!" Bumblebee said. "Uh, what is that, exactly?"  
"Is when one of us hides, and the other has to find them," Sari told him. "Do you want to hide or should I?"

"Oh, I'll hide!" Bumblebee said with a slow, mischievous smile growing on his face.

"Okay! I'll turn around and count to ten."

Just as Sari began to count, Bumblebee rushed off and went outside, where he transformed into vehicle mode and drove off. After all, he had not said _where_ he was going to hide.

Sari didn't think Bumblebee could be too good at the game, after all where was he possibly going to be able to hide? She'd recognize him even in car-mode; this would be far too easy.

At least that's what she'd through before half an hour of looking passed.

Time to get some help.

"Prowl, I can't find Bumblebee anywhere."

And there went his peace; he did have to admit he figured Sari would go missing before Bumblebee.

"Where did you last see him?"

"Well we were playing hide and seek, and he's really, really good at it, I've been looking for him forever! I even said I give up and he still hasn't come out."

Prowl had been slightly familiar with the game, kids were always playing it in the park; and he knew Bumblebee too well.

"Are you sure he hid around the base?"

"Well…" Sari hadn't thought about that.

"Ratchet we need to trace Bumblebee's energy signature."

Ratchet would not be happy about being interrupted.

Indeed, the grumpy old medic had been just starting to take a stasis nap when Prowl and Sari disturbed him. Ratchet grumbled something in the Cybertronian language, causing Prowl to blink and raise an optical ridge. Sari had no idea what Ratchet had just said, but since neither of the bots seemed inclined to repeat it, she figured Ratchet had said some "bad words".

Sari had to sit in Ratchet as the three of them left the base, since she did not have a helmet and Prowl felt she would be safer inside the medic's vehicle mode than on his own back. After leaving the base, Ratchet kept his scanners active, as did Prowl. But Ratchet's scanners were more sensitive, especially since he was a medical bot. It was part of his function.  
Finally, they detected Bumblebee's energy signature near the local police station. However, they found a complication when they arrived; Bumblebee was in his car mode, parked right next to Captain Fanzone's car. Since both were identical, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart.

Ratchet opened his door so that Sari could get out, then he transformed. Prowl, who had already transformed, was looking at both of the yellow cars intently.

Sari walked in between the two cars pounding on each one with her hands "Bumblebee! You weren't supposed to hide in the city how was I supposed to find you?"

"Hey kid, don't abuse city property!" Captain Fanzone mumbled something before speaking to Prowl "Want me to pick up a child leash for her? They sell them at the mall."

"I don't think that will be necessary."

"Just saying…" Fanzone stepping into one of the cars. He stepped out a few seconds later "That's the one you want," he opened the other car and got inside knocking out quite a few pieces of trash while doing so.

Sari pounded on the yellow car "Bumblebee I know you can hear me! How was I supposed to find you?"

Bumblebee transformed "I thought the point was that you weren't supposed to find me."

"Yeah but…" Sari tried to think of a good way to explain the game but she gave up "Never mind, we got horror movies to watch!"

"Not the R-rated ones."

"But Prowl those are the best ones!"

"Your father said no R-rated movies, besides it is my understanding that they are inappropriate for a child of your age."

"Well, duh, that's what makes them so great to watch!" Sari said, placing her hands on her hips. "Besides there's this great one I've been wanting to see called 'The Orphan'. It sounds totally cool—"

Prowl placed his hands on his own hips, narrowing his optics a little. "I have heard about that one," he commented. "That is a movie you do not need to see."

"Oh come on, how do you know what it's like?" Sari asked, throwing her hands into the air. "You don't even like movies and you don't know check out many of them."  
"Ever since I accepted this job, I have been doing research," Prowl stated. "And as you know, I have easy access to the internet, since I am a machine myself." His frown deepened a little. "That movie you mentioned contains content not suitable for minors."

"Where did you hear that?" Sari asked, scowling.

"A website called 'Plugged in Online'," the ninja answered.

"Oh you went to THAT website?" Bumblebee laughed. "All that they do is go on and on about the bad stuff in the movies. They don't even think about the story at all!"

"But they do address content that is not 'family friendly'," Prowl told him firmly. "I will not allow Sari to see that movie."

Something about the ninja's look made Bee back down without a word. It was a look that Sari would soon begin to call "The glare of death", one which was to be avoided at all costs.  
Sari also began to realize that if she was going to get around Prowl, she would need to make new rules for herself. So this was rule number one: "If Prowl tries to give you the Glare of Death, avoid eye contact at all costs, or it will turn your legs into putty and you won't be able to speak for at least an hour."

Once she was back at the base Sari decided that since Bulkhead was no longer busy a game of Red Light Green Light was in order. It would be fun to pit Bumblebee and Bulkhead against each other, and it would keep her from getting any Glares of Death.

Right?

Wrong!

"How did a simple game end with the three of you covered in mud? There's not even any mud anywhere around here… at least not enough to cover anyone but Sari."

The three shrugged at Optimus' question; he was just happy this was Prowl's problem and not his. He knew Sari didn't like baths, and he knew what was coming.

"But I can totally get clean without a bath."

"Not adequately enough."

"But I'm covered in… nature! See, that's a good thing."

Prowl shook his head "Do you have any idea how many toxins are in Earth's rainwater and the topsoil? You definitely need a bath."

Sari attempted to protest, trying to stall for time until she could think of something to say that would get her out of this situation. But Prowl did something that cut off any further attempt to argue or stall; he matter-of-factly picked her up and carried her toward the bathroom.  
There was no shortage of running water within the base, mostly for Sari's sake. They had a fully functional bathroom with operating facilities and running water so that she could use it any time she needed to. But in preparation for these next couple of weeks, Prowl had seen to it that a large bathtub was installed in a room large enough for him to oversee the child's bath.  
"Now," the ninja bot said as he carried the girl into the room that had the tub, "I got a supply of shampoo for your hair and liquid soap for the rest of your body. And I know you have a set of clean clothes in your backpack." He set her down beside the tub, turning on the faucet to begin filling it up.

"I'm allergic to water."

"That's nearly impossible, organics are very rarely allergic to water in fact there have only been a handful of documented cases."

"Well I'm allergic to soap."

"Unlikely. Your father would have mentioned it."

Sari sighed; at least it was worth a shot.

A thought did come to her, if she was going down Bumblebee and Bulkhead were going with her… that is what friends did after all.

"Bumblebee and Bulkhead are going to track mud all over the place." She announced this as if it were merely a comment to herself.

Within a few minutes she could hear the sweet, sweet aftermath.

"Bumblebee you're getting it all over my room!"

"But Prowl its nature, you love nature! Besides there's already a tree and dirt in here, what's a little more?"

When Sari was finally clean, the rest of the base definitely wasn't.

* * *

So this one's getting a bit more of a build up for Sari's level of evilness... after all she'd respect the autobots a lot more than some random teenager only in it for the cash.


	3. Chapter 2

Can't really think of any notes...

* * *

"Sari," Prowl called out. He was wary from having to help clean all the mud from the base, which Bulkhead and Bumblebee had tracked everywhere. He'd also given both bots, along with Sari, a firm lecture and told them that they would no longer be able to play together outside, unless Prowl was there to watch them. That way, hopefully, there would be no more incidents like this.  
Prowl ended up having to call the red-haired girl's name twice more before she finally responded. "What?" she called out. Prowl followed the sound of her voice to see her sitting in front of the television set, playing some sort of new video game with Bumblebee. Prowl came close to rolling his optics; he should have figured they might be there.

"Sari, it's time for bed," Prowl said.

"But we're up to level three hundred!" Bumblebee protested.

Prowl placed his servos on his hips. "Sari, your father instructed that you are to go to bed no later than 7:00, and it is already 7:02. You are going to bed. Now."

"I'm not sleepy though."

"Well no one said you had to sleep just that you had to go to bed."

Prowl realized seconds after saying that. that it was probably the worst thing he could possibly say.

"But Prowl…"

Sari didn't seem to notice his horrible choice of words and kept pressing on with reasons about why she shouldn't have to have an early bedtime.

"And besides, I'm just going to wake up really, _really_ early anyway. I won't tell my dad if you let me stay up, come on prowl please."

"No Sari, it's already 7:05 so you've had five cycles extra anyway."

"Come on Prowl, just one more level."

"You're not helping me Bumblebee."

"I didn't intend to." the yellow bot replied

"Bumblebee, knock it off."

"Come on Optimus." The bot tried appealing to the Autobot leader

"Bumblebee," the Autobot Prime said sternly, "Professor Sumdac left Prowl in charge of Sari, and if Prowl says that it's time for Sari to go to bed, then she needs to go to bed." Before anyone could say another word, Optimus reached out shut off the game console, ignoring the protests from both Bee and Sari.

Prowl cast a grateful glance toward Optimus, then turned to regard Sari again. He placed his servos on his hips. "Come along now, Sari," he said. "You can either go to bed willingly, or I will pick you up and carry you to bed."

Sari grumbled, but couldn't seem to think up any more excuses. And she knew fully well that if she didn't go on her own, Prowl would follow through on his threat to pick her up and carry her. So she mumbled a quick "good night" to Bumblebee and Optimus, then ignored Prowl completely as she sulked off to her room.

Prowl quietly followed her to her room, making certain she went inside. However, she hesitated just inside the doorway. "Prowl, can you tell me a bedtime story?" she asked, and attempted to make her best "puppy dog" look.

Prowl knew where this was going but agreed anyway, now the only problem; he had to come up with a story. Or did he? She never said it couldn't be true; and the ninja did want to get back at a certain yellow bot.

"I know a good one about Bumblebee."

"Bumblebee?"

"Yes Bumblebee." Prowl had to suppress his smirk "Back before we came to earth, Bumblebee and Bulkhead were working on a space bridge. Bumblebee decided it would be a great idea to test some new paint. On everyone else. He thought he wouldn't get caught, that he was really clever; but he wasn't and when he was the only bot not covered in random paint colors, we all knew who was to blame. That work for a story?"

"I was being clever Prowl." Bumblebee had heard Prowl telling the story

Sari, having heard the complete story, had to suppress her giggles a bit. She didn't want to upset Bumblebee, plus she hadn't expected to actually enjoy the story. But in a way she was glad she had, because now she had a good excuse to ask Prowl for another story. Plus it meant staying up later, if he agreed.

"Tell me another story, Prowl!" she pleaded, bouncing up and down on the bed a little.

Prowl shook his head. "It is now 7:27," he stated. "You should be going to sleep."

"But you just said I had to go to bed!" Sari tried stalling. "You said nothing about sleep!"

"Nice try," Prowl murmured. He took a moment to tuck the girl in, making sure she had her teddy bear and anything else so that she wouldn't have any more excuses to stall. Finally they both said goodnight, and Prowl switched off the light.  
The ninja bot then headed out of the girl's room and went to his own room, located close by. He sat down on the floor in front of his tree, purposely leaving his door open so he would be able to keep a better optic and audio sensor out for any possibly mischief.

He had only been sitting there for two cycles when he suddenly heard, "Prowl!"

Sighing, Prowl rose and headed to her bedroom, peeking into the doorway. "Yes, Sari?"

"I'm thirsty. Can I have a glass of water?"

"Yes Sari."

So after she got her water Prowl thought she couldn't have any reason to get up again; was he ever wrong.

"I ran out of water." she announced

This happened about three more times until Sari finally agreed to stay in bed, and she did; for a good fifteen cycles. She appeared walking with a bit of a jitter to her steps and announced very quickly "I have to go to the bathroom!"

That happened at least four more times spread over the next megacycle. Prowl was on to her game; stall for more time, but he couldn't actually tell her not to go to the bathroom. Maybe she'd won this round but he wouldn't let it happen again. Prowl did wonder, would Sari get to the level she'd gotten to with Cara? Going so far as to randomly yell out that she'd seen Decepticons?

Of course not, there was no way she'd underestimate him like that.

At least, he thought so.

Until the next morning, when the underestimating started with Breakfast.

"I'm starving!" Sari said after she had gotten out of bed and gotten dressed into a fresh set of clothes. "What's for breakfast?"

"I will make you breakfast in a moment," Prowl told her, as they stood just outside her room. The base was equipped with a limited kitchen, courtesy of Professor Sumdac, for Sari's stay. "I will make you a healthy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and sliced fruit."

"But I want sugar puffs!" Sari said. It was her most favorite cereal.  
Prowl looked at her. "No," she said. "Your father made it clear he does not want you to eat that cereal because it's mostly sugar."

"But sugar means more energy!" Sari tried to argue.

"It's bad for your teeth, Sari. Do you want to get a toothache and to go to the dentist?"

"Hey I brush my teeth, remember? That takes care of that!" she tried to persuade him. "Besides, eating cereal means no killing animals!"

Prowl stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge, glancing at the food inside. "The animal flesh would still be dead, whether or not you eat it," he said. He turned to glance at her. "I am going to make you a healthy breakfast."

Sari sighed, it was worth a try. All the little things she did that used to annoy her past babysitters just seemed like absolutely nothing to Prowl. She knew there were things that annoyed Prowl, noise in particular. Noise had to be the answer.

"Bumblebee! We're playing Guitar Hero Revamp Seven!" She knew the little mech wouldn't say no to Guitar Hero.

Prowl knew what she was trying to do the instant the noise started. She knew he couldn't stand excessive noise, she also knew Bumblebee was horrible at the game and Optimus actually wasn't. She got the two to start playing each other, knowing full well that it could last hours.

Prowl walked into the room where the others had gathered around he had to shout over the noise for them to turn it down and none of them seemed to hear him.

It would be okay, processor over matter,

it would be okay

If only they would at least play any song but that annoying "Om nom nom nom" metal song, seriously what was that band thinking and how did it ever get popular?

However, Prowl had a solution to the problem in the end; he simply switched off his audio sensors, something that an Autobot could do but no human could do. He could literally tune out any kind of sound that way, no matter how loud it was.

What's more is that Optimus, Ratchet and even Bulkhead did the same, so that Bumblebee and Sari were the only ones who could hear the noise.  
It didn't take Sari long to figure out what Prowl had done, since he was able to walk into the room a few moments later with a perfectly normal expression on his face, without even the slightest trace of annoyance or discomfort.

Now Sari was truly starting to get annoyed. Was there anything, anything at all, that got under Prowl's skin, so to speak? She knew that he was a machine, so he could do things that a human couldn't. But surely there had to be something that could annoy him. That was part of her job; to annoy the person watching her.

Sari needed to get creative, maybe even call in the big guns early. She glanced at her key; she knew better, she knew she knew better.

She knew better but this idea was just too good to pass up and she couldn't not do it, even if she hadn't been trying to harass Prowl at the time she still would have had to do it.

There were quite a few old broken cars at the plant, she had wondered for a while about what would happen if she used the key, she couldn't pass the idea up.

She walked up to a red car, broken windows, no wheels, an ideal candidate. She was about to insert the key when Bumblebee called out "Sari!"

She turned her attention away from the car "What is it?"

"Prowl said you were supposed to take some vitamin things."

She glanced back at the car then said "Yeah I'll be right there."

She came back a few minutes later; Bumblebee was following her curiously this time, she decided she might as well let him in on her idea.

"I don't know Sari; are you sure this will turn out okay?" he was a little hesitant

"Aw, come on Bumblebee, it can go too wrong, besides if it turns out to be some monster and attack, I'm sure you can take it."

Suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded like a car engine roaring—although it also sounded like a wild animal roar. In truth, Sari had left the key in the car's ignition. Little did she know that it had partially repaired the broken down clunker, but the energy of the key had also turned into something of a half-aware, mechanical zombie.

It began to race through the base completely on its own, screeching its tires as it raced down the corridor into the main living area, where most of the bots had gathered. Ratchet let out a loud yelp as it came rushing toward him like a red streak, and he got out of the way just in time before it mowed into him.  
The red clunker skidded to a halt several feet away and turned to "face" Ratchet, its engine revving almost like a mad bull panting, and its tailpipe releasing noxious fumes and exhaust.

"What in the name of Cybertron?!" Ratchet exclaimed.

The car then rushed toward Ratchet again, but he was ready; he held up his arms and stopped the car dead in its tracks with his magnetic arms. The car tried to move, even running its tires against the floor until the horrid stench of burning rubber could be smelled, but it simply could not move.

Optimus rushed forward with his ax in hand, then sliced through the front of the car, severing the engine from the rest of it. Then the car made a loud moaning noise, and "died".

Optimus and Ratchet then leaned in to peer inside the car. Then they saw it; Sari's key was in the ignition.

Both bots called for Prowl, but the ninja bot was already present, having been alerted by all the commotion within the base.  
As soon as Prowl saw the key, he snatched it up and went in search of Sari, who was sitting in her room and looking rather innocent. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, dangling her legs.

Prowl held the key high above her head. "You started that car up," he said. It was a statement, not a question; the ninja bot knew what had happened, and he didn't need her to say anything. "Sari, you are grounded until the week is over, and I am also keeping the key with me until then."

"Come on, Prowl!" Sari tried to use the 'puppy-dog' stare, it always worked on her father so why not Prowl? "I just wanted to see if I could fix it is all, I was really, really bored."

"You knew better."

Sari sighed, this didn't seem fair, if she was going down so was someone else "Bumblebee is guilty by association."

"And because of the way you say it I imagine that you made sure he was guilty by association."

"But the AllSpark choose me to keep the key."

"The AllSpark would understand why me leaving this with you at the current time would spell disaster."

Sari was left in a bad mood for a few hours, and pretty bored. That's when she realized, sooner or later a Decepticon was bound to show up and the Autobots would either have to leave her alone at the base, or take her with them. Some grounding this was going to be. Did Prowl really think it would work?

"So Prowl, needing a recharge yet?" The medic asked, it had been about 30 cycles since the car incident.

"No I think I have the situation fully under control."

Ratchet laughed "You're funny, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Prowl was slightly confused, the base was absolutely quiet.

"Exactly." the medic answered "Don't you know that silence can be nothing good?"

* * *

Yeah ... that's what' sup'


	4. Chapter 3

* * *

It was now Wednesday. Exactly two days had passed since Sari's dad left, and they were now on the morning of the third day. And Sari knew that she would remain grounded until Saturday morning, because that's what Prowl had told her.  
Meanwhile Prowl was grateful that, thus far, nothing too major had happened since the car incident. Oh Sari had pulled a few stunts, such as putting a dozen eggs into the microwave and turning it on, thus resulting in a messy explosion within the device, but Prowl was onto her game. He did not add any days to her grounding, he simply made her clean up any mess she made, which included cleaning the exploded eggs out of the microwave under his supervision. It was a process that she hated, especially since Prowl was good at just sitting there and watching.  
It was even worse when he watched you with the Glare of Death.

Another time, Sari purposely left mud tracks all over the floor—though thankfully this time, she was the only one with mud on her, and it was only on her shoes. Prowl matter-of-factly supplied her with a bucket of soapy water and a mop, but she folded her arms and pouted, refusing to clean.

"It's bad enough that I'm grounded!" she snipped, scowling. "I shouldn't have to clean anything!"

"You made the mess, you can clean it up," Prowl stated firmly, shoving the mop handle toward her. In some ways he wondered if this was how Yoketron had felt, way back on that first day he'd entered the ninja master's dojo. Prowl had been pretty stubborn about cleaning up the mess in there… but not this stubborn.  
"Sari, you can either clean this mess up with the mop, or if you keep being stubborn about it, I will make you clean up the mess with this." Out of nowhere, Prowl showed her a toothbrush in his servo.

"Oh that's just wrong."

Sari stalled, tried doing things wrong on purpose, even making the mess worse in some cases but Prowl didn't tell her to stop; he figured that's what she would want. It might have taken a few hours but she eventually finished.

It was a few hours later, it had been a pretty quiet day; all things considered. Of course it couldn't stay quiet.

"So, you think if I zapped with my stingers it it'll jolt it and it'll work?" Bumblebee was asking Sari in reference to the game system dying and her not having the key to fix it with.

She shrugged.

Naturally zapping it was not the answer. Unless the intention was to start a quick spreading electrical fire. Sari realized after pouring water on it that water only made the situation worse.

The two panicked until Sari finally realized something "Bumblebee! There's a fire truck here."

"There is? Already I thought you had to call."

"No, Optimus!"

Prowl had sensed something was wrong and he fully realized it when the two started screaming for Optimus and announcing there was a fire. When he saw what was going on he couldn't decide if it was more idiotic to try to shock the game system into working, or if it was more idiotic to also leave it plugged into the TV and power strip while doing something so idiotic.

It took only a few moments for Optimus to arrive, right along with Ratchet. The medical bot used his magnetic devices to pull the burning equipment away from the wall, and Optimus immediately began to spray foam onto the fire, effectively dousing it.

A few minutes later, the fire was completely out, and all that was left was the terrible stench of burnt equipment and the horrible sight of ruined circuitry and wires.

Once everyone was certain that it was all okay again, Prowl turned his full attention to Sari and placed his servos on his hips. "Sari, you were not supposed to play any games," he stated firmly, and she cringed because he was giving her the Glare of Death now. "Because you disobeyed me, you will be confined to your room until your father comes home."

"Ah, come on; Bumblebee just asked me if there was anyway of fixing it."

"Sari do you honestly think I came online yesterday?"

"No but I thought it was a really, _really_ good excuse." Sari rolled her eyes "Man, why do you have to be so good at this?"

"It's because I'm a ninja."

Sari didn't seem to know how to respond to that. However, Prowl did not give her a chance to respond. He simply pointed toward her room. "Go," he told her sternly. "And you will not come out until it is time for lunch."

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?"

Prowl sighed. "You may only leave your room when you really do have to use the bathroom, Sari."

"Okay. I have to go to the bathroom now."

Prowl raised an optical ridge at her, shaking his head slightly. Somehow, he doubted that; she was probably just stalling for time. But once again, he couldn't tell her not to go to the bathroom. "Fine," he simply said. With that, she took off toward the bathroom.

Once she was in the bathroom, she stood up on top of the toilet and reached for the window, opening it. Then she very carefully climbed through it, and allowed herself to drop onto the ground just outside. It was kind of a rough landing, but she was okay.  
"Prowl's just being unfair," she murmured to herself. "So I'll just go find somewhere else to stay until Dad gets back, then everything will be back to normal!" The only regret she had was that she didn't have her key with her. Prowl still had that, and she wasn't even sure where he'd hid it. But… oh well.

For a few minutes she had to think about how long of a walk it would be, but her last name was Sumdac, she could get whatever she wanted with her last name she didn't have to have money or anything on her person. It was just a matter of finding a taxi, after all no driver would turn her down, she was an adorable eight year old, and once again, she was Sari Sumdac.

She was right of course, and anything provided by robots would be free, seeing as her father created the robots; they couldn't really turn down their creator's daughter.

It only took about ten minutes for her to get some distance form the base, and it only took that same amount of time for Prowl to know something was up.

When Sari got into town she was let out near the Sumdac tower, but going home would be predictable and far too boring. Besides, there were plenty of places her father would never let her go to in a million years; and now they were free game.

What she did not notice, however, was the figure following her at a discreet distance. She did not know that someone had caught wind of the fact that her Dad was out of town, and had been waiting for just the right chance to try and kidnap her for ransom. Her dad was, after all, quite wealthy. This dude had been counting on the fact that she would just get left with some babysitter, but instead she had apparently gone with her robot friends.

However, now that she was out and about, and completely alone… now would be the prime opportunity to sneak up and nab her.

And he did so. He waited until he was certain that no one was looking, then he rushed up behind her and picked her up, placing a firm hand over her mouth and carrying her toward his car.

"You're coming with me, little missy," he cackled.

* * *

Seriously; why does nothing ever happen to her because her dad is rich? o_O It's always revenge or robot-related, you'd think just once someone would want money.


	5. Chapter 4

It's baaacccck.

* * *

The stranger kept his hand firmly over Sari's mouth as he carried her into his car. He then opened the back door and handed her to his partner in the backseat. "Strap her in and keep her quiet," he instructed, before pulling away, slamming the door shut, and moving around to the front of the car.  
Once he was seated in the driver's seat, he gripped the steering wheel with all his might and began to take off down the street. Nabbing the little Sumdac kid was certainly better than grabbing the Witwickey's kid. It probably would have been far easier to nab Daniel, considering he always seemed to be, well, everywhere. But Sari's dad was a lot more loaded with cash than Daniel's parents were.

Naturally, Sari Sumdac wouldn't keep quiet, she'd been nabbed by giant robots before; strange people really didn't scare her too much.

"Who are you?"

"Not important brat!"

The drive looked back to his partner "I thought I told you to keep her quiet!"

"When my friends find out what you're doing they will crush you like little insects!"

"Shut her up already, I'm trying to focus on my driving!"

"Either you'll voluntarily shut up or I'll force you too!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

It turned out, that even tied up with duct tape over her mouth, Sari still managed to make noise.

"Can't I just knock her out?"

"Are you stupid? No you can't do that! She's worth a lot of money I don't want you devaluing her idiot! You just shut up and let me drive!" the driver turned on the radio hoping to down out the girl and his partner.

Sari somehow managed to unfasten her seatbelt and twisted herself around so that she could kick the dude trying to hold her in the face. He let out a loud yelp. "Watch it, kid!" he yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her a little. "That was my gold tooth and it cost a lot of money!"  
Somehow she managed to mumble through the duct tape. The man then put another piece of duct tape over her mouth, then used more of it to secure her arms around her back, by taping her wrists together. Then, after struggling with her a bit, he managed to tape her ankles together. Then he strapped her back into her seat, and the driver turned up the volume on the radio a bit more.  
So… that should just about do it, to keep the little punk contained and quiet. Right?

Right?

Wrong.

While driving and listening to the never ceasing noise Bob wondered if maybe he and his partner should have just went after the Witwickey kid; sure it would be less profit but it would also be a lot less work and so much easier.

He finally managed to get the car to the warehouse that he and his partner had picked out, it was small and secluded; it would be hard to any person to find unless they wanted them to.

Meanwhile Prowl was already taking action. He saw no reason to inform the other Autobots of Sari's disappearance, after all he volunteered for the job and she was his responsibility. Besides, he was sure whatever the case was he could handle it himself.

His first move was to make a quick trip around town and see if he could spot the girl quickly; he'd do a more through search afterwards.

After a brief search, he did not find her anywhere, so he decided to look around more thoroughly. Just as he was about to take off, however, he noticed Captain Fanzone coming out of the nearby donut shop, talking animatedly on his cell phone.

Prowl's sensitive audio sensors picked up on what was being said: "Eh? You say you saw the Sumdac kid getting nabbed off the street a while? Just how long ago? Okay, got it, just tell me what direction they went in. Okay, I'll get right on it."  
As Fanzone stuffed his phone into his pocket, Prowl walked up toward him. "Captain Fanzone, what was that about Sari?" he asked.

Fanzone just about jumped out of his skin. "Oh, it's you, Prowl," he said. "Don't sneak up on a guy like that!"

"Sorry."

Fanzone muttered something about not liking machines, then spoke up. "Anyway I need to go, apparently the Sumdac kid as been kidnapped."

"By who? And which way did they go?" Prowl demanded.

"They went due east, and I think there were two of them, although the witness didn't recognize either of 'em," Fanzone answered.

"What about the vehicle?"

"A blue Cadillac."

"Do you know who placed the call?"

"No but I traced it to a clothing store not far from Sumdac Tower."

Prowl decided to check out the crime scene first for any clues.

Inside of the clothing store a teenage girl stood at the front register with her boss.

"Any questions?"

She shook her head, this wasn't so bad for a first day of work, it beat baby-sitting anyway.

"Okay well in that case, I'm going to go check the news to see what the word on that kid that got kidnapped is."

Cara had heard something about a kid being kidnapped but she'd been so busy learning how to work the cash register that day she hadn't paid a lot of attention. Of course, seeing a giant-transforming-talking-robot glancing into the store was more than enough to grab her attention. Especially when the robot was familiar.

"Hey, Mrs. Peters, the kid that god kidnapped, was her last name Sumdac by any chance?"

Her boss walked out, "Umm yeah it-" the lady simply fainted upon glancing at the store window.

Cara sighed… it seemed she was going to be stuck addressing this issue. She could help but feel some kind of pity for anyone dumb enough to go after Sari Sumdac; they obviously didn't know what they were getting into.

Taking a deep breath, Cara slowly stepped outside and glanced downward toward her fainted boss.

"Hello Cara," Prowl greeted, glancing from her to her fallen boss, and back at her again.

"Uh… hi," Cara murmured. "Uh, I think I'd better get her inside," she said, partly because she did feel bad about leaving her boss out there, and partly because she wanted to stall for time. She did not really want to talk to Prowl, and she especially did not want to talk about that Sumdac kid.  
Once she got Mrs. Peters inside and set her in a chair, Cara glanced toward the window and saw Prowl still out there. She sighed again, knowing that he probably wasn't going to go anywhere until he got whatever he wanted. And so, grumbling under her breath, she stepped outside again.

"Why are you still standing out here?" Cara snipped, somewhat rudely. But she didn't care.

"I just want to know what you can tell me about Sari Sumdac," Prowl told her. "Did you see anything at all?"

"Not really, I've been learning how to work the cash register inside. This is my first day, you know."

"Well then how about any suspicious customers."

"Every customer that comes through here could be called suspicious, some freak smeared peanut-butter all over the sweater rack."

Prowl rose an optic at the girl, she continued speaking.

"This one guy asked for my number like eight friken' times, this morning two idiots in a blue Cadillac almost ran off the road and into the store; and then some lady came in here demanding we subscribe to the Detroit Times web-zine."

"What about that?" Prowl asked in reference to Cara's comments on the Cadillac

"It's some online publication, and-"

He stopped her "No not that, the car."

"Guy kind of did a doughnut; almost hit the side of the building. He dented his fender on a light pole, got out of the car kicked the pole a few times, yelled at someone in the backseat and left."

"Did you get a good look at the man driving?"

"Well hecks' yeah I did, I had to know who to press charges on if it happened again."

"So then you'd know him on the spot."

"Yeah see, I tend to not forget the faces of people that try to kill me… it's a human thing."

"Then I'll need you to come with me."

"What?"

"Whoever kidnapped Sari was driving a blue Cadillac, and with someone who knows what they look like it will make tracking her down a lot easier."

"Look, it's my first day and my boss is incapacitated, I can't just run off for a few house; I'll need to wake her up first."

"No time for that."

"But I can't just randomly take off of work."

"Well then you'll have to randomly quit work."

Cara gaped at him, then threw her hands into the air with exasperation. "You have got to be kidding me!" she said, almost yelling.

"I am not," Prowl told her.

Cara sighed, contemplating her options. On the one hand, she really didn't want to lose this job, but she supposed some small part of her, deep down, also wanted to make sure the Sumdac kid was alright, and returned home safely. Then again, why should she even care? It was probably Sari's own fault that she got kidnapped in the first place.

Growling slightly under her breath, Cara glanced up at Prowl again. "What if I say no?" she tried, almost tentatively.

Prowl rolled his optics, "You describe me as a giant-transforming-talking-robot… do you really think I'd expect you to seriously refuse me? Besides; you still technically owe me." it wasn't really a threat but Prowl knew the girl was easily intimidated by his kind so he would use it to his advantage.

"Well let me lock up and leave a note first."

Cara stomped inside and reached for a pack of sticky notes while mumbling repeatedly, "I am so fired."

She practically slammed the main door to the store as she stepped out. "So, which way?"

"Captain Fanzone said they were heading due east from here."

She started walking up the sidewalk but stopped when she realized Prowl wasn't following "Well…?" she huffed

He transformed and pulled closer to her, she jumped back "No way!"

"It'll take hours at the rate you humans walk."

"I said no way!"

"Cara need I remind you of the _giant-transforming-talking-__**ninja**__-robot_ that you're refusing here?"

"I don't have the right license to be on a motorcycle, getting fired on my first day would be one bit of bad news to bring home but getting arrested would throw my mm over the top."

"I'll talk to Fanzone if it becomes an issue."

"Still not doing it."

How wrong was Cara? A few minutes later she found herself riding giant-transforming-talking-ninja-bot; clinging on for dear life none the less. Maybe she should just move out of Detroit, settle in Canada… or Mexico after all she did have an affinity for Mexican food.

* * *

Cara's such a punching bag.


	6. Chapter 5

Thanks to all the reviewers~!

* * *

"I'm going to ditch the car," the driver said as his partner got out, carrying the mostly incapacitated Sari with him. "Get her inside and either tie her to a chair or lock her in one of the rooms—or do both, I don't care. I'll be back as soon as I get rid of the car."

In truth, they had come across this car on the side of the street and hot-wired it, figuring that it would make a useful getaway car and throw the cops off the track. Now the driver—whose name was Bob—simply had to ditch it without getting caught.  
The other dude, who's name was Carl, carried Sari into the building. The girl knew their names because she'd heard them address each other at least a couple times as they'd pulled up their hideout.

Carl walked into the building and slammed the door shut behind him, then glanced around. The place was old and rather dusty—which reminded Sari of the Autobot base when she'd first shown it to her friends. But of course, this place was much smaller, and it wasn't a factory.

Carl brought Sari over to a crate "Sit." he said it as if she truly had a choice in the matter. "Now you; are gonna' make me a lot of money."

She rolled her eyes mumbling things that wouldn't come out as English due to the duct tape over her mouth.

"Then again, you gotta be used to this kind of thing by now. Any girl with a daddy as rich as yours must've been nabbed a few times specially when you get to run the streets alone and ain't got no bodyguards."

Sari rolled her eyes, she'd only ever really been kidnapped by robots, or crazed super villains with grudges, but normal people who were just in it for the money... this was certainly new.

Carl started impatiently pacing the room "Bob needs to hurry back; we got to call that daddy of yours."

Carl would randomly blab about things for the next thirty minutes or so, within that time he proceeded to tell Sari his life's story; meanwhile all she could mumble was "Uh-huh."

Apparently Carl's dream was to be a cook, but Bob was always pulling him into scheme after scheme.

"With Bobby, he never actually listens to my problems or my plans."

Sari mumbled something

"What's that?" he removed the tape

"I said, maybe you're just not asserting yourself. You said you were the older brother right? Well don't let him push you around when you know what's right… take action, be your own man, do what you want to do!" Sari figured that her pep talk would get Carl to declare his giving up a life of crime to pursue his real passion, and also probably decide to free her in the process.

It just couldn't be that easy.

"Okay then!" he shouted excitedly "I'll do it, I'll set your ransom to thirty million!"

"What?" Sari blurted out

"Yeah, with thirty mill' I can buy a nice house, nice car have enough for the training then a good chunk of cash just to start my cooking empire off with! Kid you just made my dreams come true!"

Sari sighed and mumbled "Believe me, I didn't intend to." of course Carl was too busy shouting with joy to hear her comment.

Just then, the door opened and Bob walked in, looking quite ticked off. He wore a huge scowl on his face, he was covered in mud, and his left pant leg looked like it had been put through a shredder. His leg looked fine though, except for a bit of dirt and perhaps a few scratches.

"Remind me to never, ever use go through 22nd Street to ditch a car, again," Bob growled. "And why wasn't this door locked?" he snipped, slamming it shut and locking it himself. "Anyway, 22nd street is where they forget to keep their dogs on a leash. One of them started chasing me while I was in the car, then he started chasing me when I got out of the car."  
Bob shook his head. "I finally had to climb a tree like a cat and stay up there. While I was up there I took off my disguise and stuffed it into my pocket, just to make sure nobody recognized me in case someone saw us nab the kid." He shuddered. "By the time someone came for the dog, I had climbed to the very top of the tree. And well… you know I'm scared of heights, so they had to use a hook and ladder fire truck to get me down."  
Bobby sighed wistfully. "It was nice, really. I always wanted to be a fireman when I was a little boy. Especially with those sirens and pretty sparkly lights… you know, people respect the sirens and lights, and let you through. It could really make ya feel like a man, I can imagine…"

"Aw shut up," Carl snipped, interrupting him. "I'm so tired of listening to you ramble about how you wanted to be a fireman when you won't even listen to me talk about how I wanted to be a cook! And as of this moment, I am taking over the show!"

Bob blinked. "Say what?"

"You heard me!" Carl said, walking over and stabbing a finger into Bob's chest. "I'm gonna ransom the kid for three million, and you're not getting a cent of it. I'm gonna buy a nice house, get me a nice wife, have a nice family, become the world's greatest cook, and live happily ever after for the rest of my life."

"You've gotta be kidding me!"  
"Have you never read Cinderella?"

"That's a fairy tale!"

"Come on! It's been told so many times it's got to be true!"

"Okay then Cinderella, you wanna go bake your cookies in your little easy bake oven; you go do that! I'll take care of this situation."

"Fine then maybe I will! But just so we're clear I expect my cut of the money cause' I'm going to cooking school!"

Carl stomped outside slamming the door behind him.

"Ain't he a peach, gonna' walk out on me and expect to get his money!"

Sari nodded in fake agreement "Yeah you should go teach him a lesson."

"You're right!" Bob started pacing "I should beat him to the middle of next week, beat him so bad our own momma' ain't gonna' recognize him!" He pricked up a metal pole from the corner of the room. "Hold this I'ma' be right back after I take care of something!"

He tossed Sari his cell phone, which since she was tied up and couldn't catch it fell to her feet.

Bob stomped out the door after Carl. Sari tried to hide her smirk until he was completely outside.

Meanwhile Prowl and Cara had made a discovery.

"This is the car!"

"Are you positive?"

Cara nodded, "Of course I am I'd recognize the machine of my near-death anywhere."

"Okay then, I'll contact Fanzone and tell him what we've found."

"Hey, while you're at it can you ask if he would consider not leaving a ticket on the little yellow Volkswagen illegally parked behind Shakey's pizza?"

Prowl gave her an odd glance.

"Every time someone leaves a ticket they manage to leave a scratch too… I just got the car!"

"This is hardly the time."

"I'm just saying… since you're tight with a cop and all…" she sighed obviously giving up "Whatever!"

Prowl ignored her and called Captain Fanzone, stating that he had found the car that the thugs used when they kidnapped Sari, then gave him the location. Fanzone said he'd be right there, and the ninja-bot terminated the commlink.

"So, what are we supposed to do, just stand around here and wait until the police captain gets here?" Cara asked.  
Prowl merely nodded.

"Fine, but after this… you owe me lunch. I don't care how, but since you and that Sumdac kid have probably cost me my job today… you owe me something to eat, at the very least."

"But you owed me in the first place."

Cara was in the process of coming up with a rebuttal but her train of thought was interrupted.

"Help me I'm being chased by a manic!"

She turned around to take a good look at the scene, one guy running from… absolutely nothing. But not just any guy, nope Cara recognized this guy. "Carl?" She questioned, it have been a while since she'd seen him. "Carl from Home Ecc?"

He gasped "uhh yeah… can't really remember you...whatever, need ya' to call the cops."

"We just did that actually." Cara cast a glance towards Prowl and the Cadillac "About that car actually…"

"Of all the places that idiot would ditch the-" Carl stopped himself from talking for a second "I didn't wanna' do it I got drug into this you gotta' believe me!"

Cara sighed "Well if there's one thing I sympathize with… it's getting drug into things."

"What do you mean, you got drug into this?" Prowl spoke up.

"I did, I did I tell ya!" Carl exclaimed, waving his hands in the air.  
"Carl, for Pete's sake, just calm down," Cara said firmly, grabbing him by the arm. He seemed to settle down just a tad, and looked at her. She had met him when she was a freshman at their school, and she had even seen him graduate. They'd even gone out once or twice, but after that she'd never heard from him again.

"I am calm! Just make sure the police know I got dragged into this against my will!" Carl exclaimed.

"Okay, got it," Cara muttered, rolling her eyes. "Now tell me what's going on."

"My brother, Bob, grabbed Sari for ransom money. He's got her back at the hideout, right now."

"And where I this hideout?" Prowl asked.

"Just a few blocks down, I'll take ya' there. Please don't get me arrested I didn't wanna do it I'm not a criminal just an accessory!"

"That's more Fanzone's choice than mine." Prowl opened a comm. link to Fanzone to tell him the new developments and the three went towards the hideout.

Bob stomped back inside the building angrily throwing down the pipe he'd picked up earlier. Sari had gotten the tape on her hands lose while she was left unguarded but she started fixing the tape a bit when she saw Bob entering. "Did you show him who's boss?"

"No that little cupcake making track star runs too fast!" Bob kicked over a few boxes in his frustration. "Ah great what'd I do with my phone." He glanced at Sari then at the floor "Oh right, so kid what's your dad's number."

Sari would give him a number alright, but it wouldn't be her dad's.

"Yeah I got ya' kid." Bob spoke in to the phone "Now just listen good… if you want to see her ever again you'll bring by a solid mill'. Ya' got two days, that's 48 hours, no more than that."

Prowl had come to a sudden stop.

"Why'd you stop?" Cara gave the ninja-bot a sideways glance

Prowl glanced down at the two humans motioning for them to be quiet. He looked… slightly amused.

Meanwhile Sari watched Bob get impatient with who was on the other end of the phone "No ya' don't know where I'm at right now! You wish you did! Shut the sass' or I'll only give ya' 24 hours to get the cash!" He put the phone up to Sari "Say hey to ya' dad kid."

Sari smirked, and her smirk seemed to send chills down Bob's back, he wasn't quite sure why.

At least until not the words left the girl's mouth "Hey Prowl!"

"Your daddy's name ain't Prowl!"

"Uh… Prowl's my Uncle! He's staying with my dad and me for the week!" Sari quickly substituted. She was a fairly smart girl, at least sometimes—she had been clever enough to chase off babysitters and get away from Prowl's watchful optics in the first place, right?

"Yeah right you said that within seconds of seeing the phone, you set me up didn't you? He's the cops ain't he?"

Sari shook her head, it wasn't technically lying.

"If you're lying to me I'll forget all about the ransom!"

"But I'm not lying; he's not the cops!"

Bob put the phone back to his ear "You this kid's uncle? You get me her father right now, right now you tell him I don't care what robotic crap he's busy with this is a business call! And don't you dare involve any cops; there will be problems if you do!"


	7. Chapter 6

humm ya' know... just because that typo is so funny I'll have to let it stay. lol

Anyway here's the last chapter.

Enjoy

* * *

Cara and Carl watched the ninja speak with Bob through his comm. link.

Carl pointed to a certain shed and got Prowl's attention.

"Oh … you know what, yeah I think Mr. Sumdac is right near you now actually, why don't you step outside?"

Cara looked horrified and frantically whispered "What if he's got a gun." She started shaking Carl "Does he have a gun? Does he have a gun?"

"He's got a gun but he's better with his fists," Carl muttered. "He couldn't hit the broad side of the moon."

Cara looked somewhat relieved, but not overly so. Frankly this day was getting more and more hectic as it went on. First she had to run off from work, which would no doubt get her fired, and go with this large alien robot to go find a girl whom she never wanted to see or hear of again. And now, for all she knew, Cara herself might get killed. That would be just a swell end to her day.

Prowl was cutting off his comm. link. "Well what are we going to do, he's gonna come out here point his gun like all over the place… Bullets ricochet you know!"

The cyber-ninja ignored her.

The door started to open and it seemed like before Cara could blink Prowl had pinned someone down. "Hello there Bob." he sounded chillingly calm… Carl was glad he'd stopped being part of the operation earlier he would not want to be in Bob's position right now.

Bob stayed speechless for a few seconds until he managed to get out a bit of gibberish. "You, you don't wanna hurt me! Come on I wasn't gonna hurt her… I just needed money! I- I- I-… I'm gonna' die aren't I?"

"Just tell me where Sari is," he growled. Of course he had no intention of harming Bob, but if the human crook did not know that, then Prowl was more inclined to get the information he wanted.

"S-she is in there!" Bob said, turning completely yellow now that he was completely defenseless.

"Um, I'll get her," Cara said, if for no other reason than to put some distance between herself and Prowl, as well as these two bozos. She went into the building through the front entrance, and it wasn't long before she saw the all-too-familiar red-haired kid, sitting tied up in a chair.

"Hello there... demon child."

"Hey Cara! What brings you here?"

Any normal kid would have been scared; maybe in tears… no normal child would be humming a song and smiling! "I'm here because I was forced to be."

"Oh so you got kidnapped too?"

"Yeah by your Ninja buddy out there."

"Ow!" At least she had a normal reaction when the tape was ripped off.

"You owe me big time kid, big time!" Cara was rolling the tape into messy balls.

"How much money you want?"

Cara gave the child a sideways glance. She put her pinky to her mouth "Three billion dollars!"

"Huh?" Sari obviously didn't get the movie reference. Cara shook her head. "Oh never mind joking around… I want you… to stay as far away from my life as possible. That includes giant-talking-transforming-robots!" The two were now walking outside

"But, what happens if Decepticons attack the city and you're right there ad you have no other way of living and-" She put a hand over the girl's mouth as they both stepped outside.

"I'm not speaking hypothetically here!"

Cara looked up to see Fanzone shaking his head "Really, don't you think the child's been through enough today."

He wasn't even kidding. Shouldn't he know better than anyone besides the Autobots about the daily exploits of this kid? She sighed, what did it matter anyway she had to try to get back to work and see if reasoning with her boss was even possible.

Cara glanced around, relieved to see that Bob had already been put into the back of the police car, handcuffed and scowling. Carl looked nervous and fidgeting, and Bob seemed to be shouting something about "traitor" and "conspiracy", although no one seemed to be paying him any mind.

"Look, since you ended up helping the kid… I'll let you off easy this time, even though you both have a criminal record," Fanzone was telling Carl. "But if I see you do anything the least bit suspicious, I'm taking you in and you can share a cell with your bro. Understood?"  
Carl nodded. "Yeah, I get it. But I got dragged into this, I swear!"

"Save it!" Fanzone snipped. "Look, I already know everything I need to know, and I don't need any excuses from you. So just get out of here before I change my mind!"

With that, Carl was gone in a flash.

Cara took a few steps forward, glancing from the police chief to Prowl. "Can I go now?" she asked them both. "Or do you need me for something else?" First she wanted them to tell her it was okay to go. Then she was going to give Prowl a piece of her mind, to make sure he, the demon child, and the other Autobots never ever came and bothered her again.

That is… if she felt brave enough.

"Nah you're pretty much free to go."

"You work at the clothing store nearby Shakey's right?"

She nodded already fearing that the name of the pizza place had come up

"Do you know anything about a yellow Volkswagen illegally parked behind Shakey's Pizza? I was told someone matching your name and description would know."

She bit her tongue "Please don't tell me it got a ticket!"

"No."

Sigh sighed

"You got towed."

This day just kept getting better and better!

Prowl glanced down at Sari, she was putting on her innocent act.

"So, what did you learn?"

She was quiet for a second before smiling "Never go play in downtown Detroit without a can of mace on hand?"

She almost thought Prowl was willing to accept this answer.

She was wrong.

"Okay fine you win; I can't best a ninja-bot babysitter!"

"That's correct." Sometimes Prowl was so uncool!

"One thing, do you think maybe; we don't have to let my dad know about this?"

"Do you think maybe we don't have to let Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead and especially Bumblebee know about this either?" the cyber-ninja seemed to be on to something.

"Nah I guess it's not too important!"

Prow was still cool.

A day later the others had noticed a change in Sari's behavior.

"Do you think… she's broken or something?" Bumblebee carefully asked Bulkhead.

"I don't know… she's really… quiet. Is she reading one of those book things too?"

Bumblebee nodded "There is definitely something wrong here!" He quickly ran to Prowl's room.

"Prowl! Sari's acting weird!"

Prowl, who had been sitting on the carpet in front of his giant tree in his meditative stance, sighed at Bumblebee. "What do you mean?" the ninja bot asked.

"She's been very quiet! And she's just sitting on her bed reading! Come and see!" With that, Bee bolted out of the room, obviously expecting Prowl to follow.

Prowl got up and walked to Sari's room. He peeked inside and saw her flipping through a thick pop-up book, looking completely content. Prowl took in the sight, then glanced at Bumblebee. "So?" the ninja finally said, seeing nothing wrong.

"So?!" Bee echoed. "She's never been this quiet, especially since she came here to stay with us while her father's gone!"  
"There is nothing wrong with her," Prowl said. "She has, I believe, simply learned her lesson." The corners of his mouth curved upward ever so slightly as he added, "Finally."

* * *

Yay accomplishment!

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed, commented and followed this fic on DA and this website.


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